ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bears (1-5, 1-4 NSIC, 0-1 South) hit the road this Saturday during a stretch of the season that will see nearly a month between home games, starting this weekend at #7 Augustana (6-0, 5-0 NSIC, 2-0 South) for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Kirkeby-Over Stadium in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. 

Next week, Concordia will have a bye due to playing a non-conference road game during week zero, then will head to Winona State on October 25 before finally returning home on November 1 against Wayne State.

WEATHER OUTLOOK
Saturday is projected to be a high of 71 with cloudy conditions and a 15-25 mph wind out of the SE and a slight (22%) chance of a shower. 

DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.

WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear NSIC football games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, and supported by Hudl (formerly BlueFrame Technology).
 
Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ

COACHES SHOW RETURNS TO TWIN CITIES RADIO
The Coaches Show with Shannon Currier is back on the Twin Cities airwaves for a sixth season, once again hosted by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score. The show airs following the Minnesota high school football game of the week, typically on Friday evenings in the 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. hour on KYCR 1440 AM radio, available in the Twin Cities metro area. 

This week's radio interview guests are sophomore twin brother defensive ends Elijah Wray and Isaiah Wray.

For fans who miss the show or are outside of the radio station's Twin Cities reach, the entire show is accessible via the CSP Bears Podcast, available in Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and YouTube podcasts. It will typically be uploaded late Friday night (after the initial air time) or Saturday morning prior to the game. Search 'CSP Bears' into your favorite podcast provider!

2025 TEAM CAPTAINS
CSP head coach Shannon Currier features rotating team captains each week for the seventh year in a row in 2025. Captains are selected by the coaching staff based on performance on the field and as a leader in practice, meetings and day-to-day activities.

This week's game captains are senior offensive linemen Caydon Christensen (3x) and CJ Picazo (3x) on offense, defensive captain redshirt freshman linebacker Mike King and junior punter Caden Carsen (2x) on special teams.

SERIES HISTORY: AUGIE 15, CSP 4
The Golden Bears are aiming to snap an 8-game losing streak to the Vikings, with Augie capturing wins in 14 of the last 15 games from 2008 to present.

The teams have played in every season since 2004 except the 2021 campaign, with Concordia winning three of the first four games from 2004 to 2007. 

Concordia has dropped seven games on the road to Augie, last beating the Vikings in Sioux Falls in 2007.

Head coach Shannon Currier is seeking his first win over Augie with 0-7 mark against the Vikings.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Coming off of an 8-2 NSIC championship season, the Vikings finished 8-4 overall including a first-round regional home playoff loss to Minnesota State in 2024. 

Augustana entered 2025 picked second in the NSIC Overall preseason coaches' poll in the 14-team league with three first-place votes, trailing Minnesota State's 11 first-place votes. In the NSIC South, Augie was picked second with one first-place vote trailing MSU's six. 

Augustana is one of two unbeaten NSIC squads in 2025 with a 6-0 record including 5-0 in NSIC play and 2-0 against the NSIC South and have climbed to #7 in the nation in the AFCA Division II Top-25 Coaches' Poll. 

The Vikings' ledger includes a non-conference win over Missouri Western State (30-26) along with close wins at UMary (21-20), Winona State (34-26) and at Sioux Falls (29-28) to retain the Key to the City trophy. They also secured big wins over Jamestown (37-7) and at Bemidji State (42-14). 

The Vikings complete 70.2 percent of their passes on the season, the seventh-highest mark in the country, which leads to a high rate of third down efficiency, converting 50.6 percent to rank 13th nationally. The high efficiency has also yielded volume with 285.8 passing yards per game, 14th-best in Division II and the country's 22nd-rated passing efficiency mark of 162.29.

The passing attack has led to a 92 percent red zone scoring rate, the 15th-highest in the country.

The Vikings also don't turn the ball over, with just four on the season, 11th-best in the country, with just one interception, seventh-fewest.

Gunnar Hensley is the signal-caller, ranking fourth in the country with a 71.9 completion percentage on 24.6 completsions per game (7th in DII), 283.8 passing yards per game (11th DII), 13 touchdown passes (11th DII) and a 166.7 passing efficiency (16th DII).

Five different receivers have hauled in at least two touchdown passes led by Klatyon Sattler (5) and Jaxon Haynes (3) with Isaiah Huber leading a group of four receivers with at least 234 yards with his sixth-best NSIC mark of 447 receiving yards, followed by Haynes (254) and Sattler (244). 

Ryan Kenny leads the ground attack with 235 rushing yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.6 per carry. Breylon Blount adds 197 rushing yards at a blistering 9.0 per attempt. 

Logan Leonard leads the defense with 6.7 tackles per game, ranking 11th in the NSIC, while ranking 25th in the nation and second in the conference with 1.33 passes defended per game on seven breakups and one INT.

On special teams, Jake Pecina handles the kicking (5-7 FG, long 52) and punting (41.9 avg, 10 of 27 inside the 20).